Monday, September 1, 2008

CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIRS - THE DARING BAKERS

After 11 months of baking as a member of "The Daring Bakers", my eager to learn more and put my knowledge to the test is still intact. I'm an autodidact baker (& cook) who craves to assimilate information and learn more about anything that takes place in the kitchen, so August's challenge had everything to satisfy me...

Although, I must say that I was looking forwards to something less chocolaty, more seasonal, lighter, more refreshing and a lot fruitier, the recipe that was proposed still enthusiasted me, mainly because it originates from one of the books by the French pastry king himself, Pierre Hermé.I had already made wonderful "Choux Pastry" (see my "Profiterole" recipe) as well as "Pastry Cream" in the past, so nothing was really new to me, but I was looking forwards to getting to try that recipe as I wanted to see how good those "Chocolate Eclairs" would be and if they would be the best I've eaten so far...

This month, nothing was really difficult (at least for me) and nothing was time-consuming. Things went smoothly and I didn't come across any major problem nor did my kitchen end up looking like a battlefield after a mayhemic confrontation, yet I wasn't exactly satisfied by my "Chocolate Eclairs" as the "Choux Pastry" didn't rise correctly and never looked as puffy as when I use my "The King Arthur Flour" recipe. Instead of being the dainty and beautiful little puffs that I generally get, those looked sad, deflated and quite shaggy, eventhough I followed the instructions to the letter. It was the very first time that I had such bad looking "Cream Puffs" and, boy, that depressed me a little (well, actually, a lot) as I thought that I would get better results with a Pierre Hermé recipe!

Anyway, maybe I'm a bit too much of a perfectionist and I tend to see flops where there are none (or no major ones...)! In any case, those "Chocolate Eclairs" were far from being bad or totally hideous. It's just that they weren't as impeccable or as dainty as I wanted them to be.Eventhough the "Cream Puff" cases weren't totally gratifying shape-wise, the "Chocolate Pastry Cream", which I flavored with ground tonka bean, was very delicate texture-wise, refined in flavor and absolutely scrumptious. The coffee-flavored (my flavoring) "Chocolate Glaze" was wonderful, but it was too runny in my opinion. It would have been perfect to drizzle over ice cream, but it was quite difficult to glaze the "Chocolate Eclairs" with it as it never set well, even after leaving the tops of the "Chocolate Eclairs" for 40 minutes in the refrigerator. In order, to solve that problem, I added some icing sugar to the warm "Chocolate Glaze" and it did the trick.

All in all, those "Chocolate Eclairs" were gorgeous. I would definitely have prefered something less chocolate-oriented and more summery, that's sure, but I enjoyed every bite I took! So, it was a real success, no matter what!

I realy want to thank Tony Tahhan at "Tony Tahan" (USA) and Meetak at "What's For Lunch Honey?" (Germany) - make sure to ckeck their wonderful sites -for having chosen that interesting recipe and for making me discover new horizons!!!~ Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé ~ Recipes from "Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Hermé.

Method:1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.2. Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.3. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat). Stir in the melted chocolate, the ground tonka and then removethe pan from the heat.4. Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process (make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth).5. Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140° F (60° C), remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled (the cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge).

Remarks:Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

Method: 1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the coffee powder and the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.2. Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Remarks:If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler (a double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water).It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95° to 104° F/35° to 40° C) when ready to glaze.

Method:1. Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens (it may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon).

Remarks: You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks.Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Method:1. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.2. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon (the dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth).3. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough (you will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs).4. Preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.5. Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 inch (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff (the dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs).6. Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm (the total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes).

Remarks:Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags.They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Method:1. Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.2. Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula (the glaze should be barely warm to the touch - between 95°to 104° F or 35° to 40° C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.3. Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs (make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry). Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Remarks:If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled, otherwise they'll get soggy.

Man, I can't tell you how many of these I've made in my life. Choux is very versatile and you can do a lot of different things with it. I've skipped pastry cream and used Devonshire Clotted Cream. Simple whipped cream and fresh berries is also divine.

I love the red sugar, too! It goes very nicely with the reflection of blue! These look delicious. Could I just come and eat leftovers at your house??? I can't imagine how lovely that would be. Your food always looks so elegant!

honestly, i find this recipe very difficult to work with as well. I had to extend the baking time of the choux pastry to make them turn out the way I wanted. And I couldn't agree more on the chocolate glaze; I find it too runny and took a long time to set. When it sets, it also did not retain its original shiny glaze. But I think that yours looked really good despite all the setbacks!

Sorry for the disappointments with deflation and it being choc vs. summery and fruity!

I am so glad you recommended that other recipe for the choux! Mine deflated too as did many others who I have visited so far. It has been rare that someone didn't experience it! I just filled mine extra full of cream and hoped kept my mouth shut hoping none would be the wiser!

Okay, the real reason I came today is to print off that recipe for the bread you posted last week. I'm craving hummus and I think it will be the perfect compliment. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks Rosa!

PS -thanks for the info on Tonka beans, very intriguing. I haven't ever tried them. I will probably hop on ebay today and see if any of the spice dealers sell them and get experimenting.

as usual your comment are so interesting to me.Every month I look forward your tips and tricks and your remarks looks like mine, I put the responsability to the cooking method and I've noted that still baked they were tender and after chilling overnight they became hard and crunchy.anyway as usual great job.